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Why drivers should give cyclists a chance – and some room on the road

Few things light up social media than a comment piece about cyclists – and no doubt this column will, sadly, spark the same tired responses.


But against a tidal wave of venom and hate, I’m going to address this uncomfortable subject any way, in the slim hope it might prompt at least some drivers to reconsider.

The nation has been talking for some time about casual racism – allowing others to get away with discriminatory comments without pulling them up on it – but I’d like to talk about how a general dislike for cyclists has somehow deteriorated into hatred for another human’s life.

It's somehow become cool to joke about how close some drivers get to cleaning up a cyclist. Quite frankly, it's putrid.

Firstly, let’s dispel a couple of myths. “They don’t pay rego, they don’t pay road tax”. Guess what? In most states, car registration fees go into consolidated revenue and not directly into roads.

There’s as much chance as the GST from a cyclist’s energy drink making it into roads via the Federal Government’s distribution of GST as there is your rego fees paying for a new stretch of bitumen.

Let’s look at that argument another way. If suddenly every cyclist did pay road tax, does that mean motorists would suddenly stop begrudging them and would finally given them some room? No, I didn’t think so either.

What about all the people who ride a push bike, but own a car? I pay the rego on three cars. Using the argument of the haters, should I be able to take up three spots on the road whenever I’m on a pushbike?

I don’t understand why motorists don’t figure out that for every cyclist on the road, that’s a car that’s off it.

After all, you could be stuck behind a cyclist in a car now and not know it. Perhaps every cyclist in Australia should drive to work one day just to demonstrate that our daily driving commutes would be even more congested if it weren’t for those on two wheels.

Perhaps we need a more light-hearted approach to the debate. If cyclists really make you mad when they slip through traffic – and you’re envious of their grid position – consider this: they’re going to arrive at their destination sweaty and smelly and will need to take a shower, hang their stinking wet clothes, lock their bike and fumble with their luggage. All you need to do as a motorist is sit in an air-conditioned car. Hardly a chore.

What is also hardly a chore is waiting for 15, 30 even 60 seconds to safely pass. If you could save a life by pausing your day for such a short amount of time, would you? In most cases cars are only getting to the next red light when they pass a cyclist any way. So where’s the rush, mate?

It's somehow become cool to joke about how close some drivers get to cleaning up a cyclist. Quite frankly, it's putrid.

Did you know that a car doesn’t give you a God-given right to get anywhere faster than anyone else? It just means you get to be more comfortable, sitting in shade, out of the rain and in a climatised environment.

Of course, cyclists aren’t perfect. Some put themselves in dangerous positions, especially near trucks which are a lot less manoeuvrable. Some cyclists run red lights or put pedestrians in danger.

But I see drivers break the road rules every day – speeding, running red lights, running stop signs, making unsafe turns, illegal U-turns – but I don’t suddenly go after them and try to mow them down.

Motorists can't exactly take the high road. They take a casual approach to road rules when it suits them. Hypocrites much?

I can’t cop it when cyclists don’t have lights at night – especially if they’re a food delivery rider. You’re making an earn out of it and that reflective box isn’t that visible, buddy. Buy a better light or some fresh batteries. Then again, how often do you see cars driving around at night blacked out?

I wish their was a way to better visually identify electric bikes from a distance because I have been caught out numerous times thinking I had plenty of time and a decent gap to enter a road from a side street in my car. For example, I’ve seen a cyclist chugging up a hill – only to find they were travelling much quicker than a normal bicycle because a battery pack was doing most of the leg work.

I am also frustrated by small, dim, or next-to-invisible bicycle lights at night. When I commute by bike, I look like a Christmas Tree or a major road works. If I get cleaned up by a car at night, I want the coroner to note that I took every possible measure to be seen by cars from a great distance, with flashing lights on the rear of my helmet (so cars can spot me more easily through traffic) and super bright lights front and rear on the bike itself.

You might think I wrote “coroner” as a bit of levity, but I’m serious. It can be scary out there.

I try to keep off the roads and use cycle paths wherever possible, but you can’t link every commute without at least some time on a road.

I don’t always ride to the front of the queue at a set of lights. Sometimes it’s safer to stay in line, sometimes it’s safer to get ahead and get clear of traffic. I hope, perhaps naively, that some motorists notice the effort I’ve made to be seen and to not get in their way.

Motorists can't exactly take the high road. They take a casual approach to road rules when it suits them. Hypocrites much?

But some motorists have no idea how close they get to cyclists – or they do so deliberately. Which is why the half-a-metre to 1-metre distance-off rule came into force (depending on speed zones).

Unfortunately, various state governments have let us down and not spread the message properly. When they introduced this law they made it look like cyclists were getting preferential treatment.

Why were the advertisements not about also giving other road users room? A truck driver getting out of his rig, a mum getting a child out of a car, a police officer writing a ticket, a road worker holding a sign – and include cyclists in that message as well.

Why have our governments not explained in advertisements that it is legal to cross an unbroken line when safe to do so. That means you don’t have to be stuck behind a cyclist up a long hill, but you do need to wait until you can clearly see if there is any oncoming traffic and you have time to pass. In other words, you can’t pass just before a blind crest or corner.

It’s the same rule that allows you to cross the centre of the road to get around a garbage truck or someone trying to park – but only when safe to do so.

You might be surprised to learn that even in the USA, where the car is king, their drivers are much more courteous than ours towards vulnerable road users, whether they’re cyclists or pedestrians.

I’ve seen drivers in the USA give cyclists far more room and courtesy than I’ve ever seen in Australia.

Driving through a car park at a shopping mall, drivers in the USA will also slow to a crawl or come to a complete stop if they see a pedestrian trying to cross. And not just elderly pedestrians, they give way to vulnerable road users of all ages. In Australia our attitude seems to be “I’m driving a car, get out of my way”.

Sadly, the cyclist debate is unlikely to hear any sane voices in Australia anytime soon. I’m a car guy, but I understand the need to make some room on the roads for cyclists and pedestrians. I honestly cannot fathom why it’s so difficult for some people – and why there’s so much ingrained resistance.

If this column has made you rethink your attitude towards cyclists, I’m not asking you to confess it to your friends. Trust me, few people get it.

But even just silently changing your attitude could save someone’s life – or save them from life-long injuries.

All we need to do is apply a little patience and give cyclists some room, regardless of how angry you might be about it. Don’t we all deserve to get home safe?

Joshua Dowling

Joshua Dowling has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years, spending most of that time working for The Sydney Morning Herald (as motoring editor and one of the early members of the Drive team) and News Corp Australia. He joined CarAdvice / Drive in 2018, and has been a World Car of the Year judge for more than 10 years.

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